seconday video card... problems

[HELLBRINGER 0]

Hi there,

 

I am having some issues attempting to get a secondary video card to work in Windows XP. I have tried several video cards that I own. My only successful card was a Voodoo 3. But I'd prefer to keep that in my other machine for LAN parties. I have tried a few other (XP Compatible) video cards that I have and all of them will not work. I get a "Device cannot start" in the Device Manager. Yet the V3 will work... I'm not sure exactly what the problem is but if someone can help me out or point me to a video card they KNOW will work that'd be great.

 

I have a GF2 MX AGP and refuse to take that out... (unless I upgrade to a card w/dual video out) but if I can I'd like to use existing cards that I have. All I want is to have my second monitor hooked up to watch TV on! I can do it with my V3 but as I mentioned earlier I'd like to keep that in my other machine for LAN parties. However I think my V3 may be causing problems cause sometimes my system will freeze when moving things across the screens when I use the V3.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance in this matter.

[adamvjackson 0]

The other video cards that you're adding, which PCI slot are you using? If you use PCI1, the IRQ is shared with the AGP port, so you'd likely have some problems with slot 1. Are the PCI cards ATI-based chipsets or Nvidia-based chipsets? Is the system chipset VIA? All applicable updates installed (BIOS, Windows Update, chipset drivers if applicable, video drivers) Let me know, and I'll think some more in the morning... Needing some sleep now, as it's 4:45am here.

[adamvjackson 0]

Just noticed something, you're secondary system, which I assume you're trying to install the second video card in, is overclocked... Is this done via adjusting the FSB? Do you have the PCI multiplier locked? I remember reading that the Voodoo cards were some of the only stable cards/chipsets in an overclocked PCI bus environment. Again, some food for thought.

[sapiens74 0]

Could be shared memory issuues as well.

 

Try pulling out every card you have then test each slot until you find a PCI slot that will work

[HELLBRINGER 0]

Thanks for responding...

 

Well right now it is in the last PCI slot (6). And i have tried I think all of them except 1 (its blocked by my big ass heatsink on my vid card).

 

There are 3 PCI cards I am trying... One is ATi Rage or something, an S3 Savage, and the 3DFX V3. No NVidia cards, thats just my primary.

 

My motherboard is Epox EP-8KTA3 as stated by my signature here, which uses the Via KT133A chipset I beleive.

 

I believe the BIOS is up-to-date but I'll check again. WinXP Pro is not updated, nor will I update it. The lastest Via 4in1 drivers are installed (a few weeks ago). And video drivers are the native ones in WinXP. I can try some factory-based ones but I don't think that will fix it.

 

My system is currently not overclocked. I have tried all the cards in the overclocked, and non-overclocked states, they all react the same. This is being done by the multiplier setting in the BIOS. And the voltage on the processor is 1.65 I beleive. The PCI clock speed is 33MHz and has not been changed.

 

I have tried placing all the cards in all PCI slots except 2 and 1. 1 is blocked by the heatsink on my video card and 2 is dead.

 

I will try a few of those updates and stuff to see if that helps.

 

Thanks for you responses guys I think we will figure something out here... if I have to however, I will just use the V3. I guess I could take it out and put it back in my other system for LAN parties. A little extra work but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Thanks.

 

lol BTW adamvjackson... I hear ya, I was up until 04:50 last night, and woke up at a lovely 13:30 hours. Great life isn't it?

[NotSoSmart 0]

I didn't see if you had changed in the bios to initiate the PCI video card first this is the problem I ran into and had same error. I also came on an old card when I first tried 2 monitor setup that the drivers didn't support it so it wouldn't work. Change first video from AGP to PCI and see if that works for you. Good Luck.

[Four and Twenty 0]

a gforce 4 mx with dualhead can be had for about 100 bux

the performance is much better on a dual head card then on 2 separate cards and you save a slot. I used to use a matrox pci card as a secondary card and that worked great. that was back when i had a tnt2 and a 440bx

[HELLBRINGER 0]

Hi. Thanks for responding.

 

I have tried a ton of things, and all the ones suggested and could not get it to work. So I have decided to get a dual-head video card.

 

Can anyone suggest a good, decent priced GF4 MX card? What about an ATI card? Anything better than the GF4 MX for near the same price or possibly cheaper. I should probably do some research on my own but have little time and I'd also like to get some opinions mixed as well.

 

Thanks.

 

BTW I just bought the new Logitech MX700 cordless optical mouse. And they were right! No more lag! Those older cordless opticals were LAGGED big time! This one however is great! Just like a corded one! And the rechargable batteries are a great addition! Thumbs up to Logitech for making yet another superior product.